; and
Sir John Bowring, in his account of the embassy to the Siamese kings in
1855, states, that in ascending and descending the river Meinam to
Bankok, he was amused with the novel sight of fish leaving the river,
gliding over the wet banks, and losing themselves amongst the trees of
the jungle.[2]

[Footnote 1: PALLEGOIX, vol. i. p. 144.]

[Footnote 2: Sir J. BOWRING'S _Siam_, vol. i. p. 10.]

The class of fishes which possess this power are chiefly those with
labyrinthiform pharyngeal bones, so disposed in plates and cells as to
retain a supply of moisture, which, whilst crawling on land, gradually
exudes so as to keep the gills damp.[1]

[Footnote 1: CUVIER and VALENCIENNES, _Hist. Nat. des Poissons, _tom.
vii. p. 246.]

The individual which is most frequently seen in these excursions in
Ceylon is a perch called by the Singhalese _Kavaya_ or _Kawhy-ya_, and
by the Tamils _Pannei-eri_, or _Sennal_. It is closely allied to, if not
identical with, the _Anabas scandens_ of Cuvier, the _Perca scandens_ of
Daldorf. It grows to about six inches in length, the head round and
covered with scales, and the edges of the gill-covers strongly
denticulated. Aided by the apparatus already adverted to in its head,
this little creature issues boldly from its native pools and addresses
itself to its toilsome march generally at night or in the early morning,
whilst the grass is still damp with the dew; but in its distress it is
sometimes compelled to travel by day, and Mr. E.L. Layard on one
occasion encountered a number of them travelling along a hot and dusty
gravel road under the midday sun.[1]

[Footnote 1: _Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist_., May, 1853, p. 390. Mr.
Morris, the government-agent of Trincomalie, writing to me on this
subject in 1856, says--"I was lately on duty inspecting the bund of a
large tank at Nade-cadua, which, being out of repair, the remaining
water was confined in a small hollow in the otherwise dry bed. Whilst
there heavy rain came on, and, as we stood on the high ground, we
observed a pelican on the margin of the shallow pool gorging himself;
our people went towards him and raised a cry of fish! fish! We hurried
down, and found numbers of fish struggling upwards through the grass in
the rills formed by the trickling of the rain. There was scarcely water
enough to cover them, but nevertheless they made rapid progress up the
bank, on which our followers collected about two bushels of them at a
distance